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An image of the Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula. Credits: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

May is full of new growth all around us, we are blessed with multicoloured flowers and fragranced by the freshness in the air here in Richmond. It’s a reminder of life! (If you want to read about death, scroll down and read the January blog…)

So do you want to stay in your own default mode, old smelly habits, or do you want to be in creation? I choose over and over again to be in creation especially when faced with challenges. Sometimes it’s easier to stay in our old conditioned ways, but when you step up to meet your Soul, you might experience the myriad rainbow-nebula like experiences we call life. It consists of both death of a star and the birth of another. I challenge you to step into yourself; your past. Really see yourself; your now. Know yourself; create your future. (P.S. Yoga, Reiki and Meditation can help 😉

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Resilience: It’s all about letting the good stuff land in your mind, to truly feel its effects in the body. To spring back no matter what life has to offer, like a bird over the hardship of winter. I feel and practice this, especially in the past few months. Once again it’s a practice. Rick Hanson the buddhist psychologist wrote six books about this. Good Stuff!Spring is here! I’m happy to spring back to the Richmond Art Centre, and offer this new GCF+ specialty class at my home studio in the new season. I will slowly go back to YYOGA as well! Slow and steady, I hope to see you on the mat somewhere in Richmond.

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My unilateral mastectomy surgery tightened the connective tissues in my chest and limited my shoulder’s range of movement greatly at first. In fact, there’s a whole lot I had to re-learn. This article might be of interest to you “Effects of Mastectomy on Shoulder and Spinal Kinematics During Bilateral Upper-Limb Movement” APTA (American Physiotherapy Association Oxford Academic) https://academic.oup.com/ptj/article/90/5/679/2737763

Two weeks post surgery and I can move my arm fully like a windmill forward, back, sideways. I have no doubt that my personal practice had something to do with my physical and emotional healing.

Day 14 post surgeryWoohoo! This just shows my ROM. Lots of rest is what heals 🙂

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I laid in bed 8 days post surgery and felt the tingly numbness on my left inner knee, reminding me of last year’s shingles episode which I still bear the scars of on my right thigh. Illogical, as I thought that it usually affects one side, one dermatome, or “an area of skin in which sensory nerves derive from a single spinal nerve root”…look it up, fascinating stuff! I remember thinking last year “but I’m only 45 years old….the vaccine poster reads 50 plus….oh well, plus or minus five I suppose.” Well, I’m now one year older and cancer definitely shook and declared that I AM middle aged. Good thing I’ve been practicing gracefully aging with full acceptance of what is. This yoga and meditation thing really works people, but you have to practice. You might be wondering why I said it’s GREAT news with another health challenge served right up? I will get to it! Patience, my young yogi.

Shingles, best treated a.s.a.p! You can have some complex complications including blindness?! Or it can go away on its own. Well, with a new diagnosis and all, I didn’t want to push my luck. I reached out to my wonderful family doctor in Vancouver via email. I have to say that this world wide web can really save or destroy humanity. This time, it was a miracle. My doctor prescribed the viral medication for me just in case, and dropped the GREAT bomb of relief as she had received the pathological report from my mastectomy and sentinel node biopsy. “Your pathology report just came in and it’s good news. No lymph node spread and no invasive cancer. ” GREAT news!

I woke up today and no tingling, no numbness, didn’t take any medication, nada. I am not going to chase after the case of the missing shingles. I am bathing in my health and wish for you to do the same.

Our brain can be so powerful that it affects our physical body. In Ayurveda, the cause of disease is attributed to “manas” our mind foremost. I have no doubt that our brain is powerful beyond our understanding. To age gracefully, I encourage learning new things in whatever circumstance life offers up, may it be dermatomes or trying a new recipe in the kitchen. Day 10 and I am healing wonderfully. My GCF core yoga practice has given me a bench mark on my physical healing. My yin and meditation has given me direction and peace.

Today, February 19, 2019. I celebrate the removal of my drainage tube that was stuck to my ribcage and dangled by my side for the past few days. Fingers crossed that everything continues to heal up without any hiccups.

I celebrate seeing my body without the bandage dressing.

I celebrate the surprise of having more body parts attached than was expected… hello areola?!

I celebrate my little one getting over a nasty stomach flu that lasted a week before and during my surgery.

I celebrate my husband’s slow recovery from the same stomach flu just after V day.

I celebrate my friends that stepped up to bring us food, take me to appointments, chats, tolerated my bitmojis.

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Yes, I’ve joined the Cancer Club! Breast cancer to be precise…some people like that detail….like ordering coffee and specifying a decaf. Well, I’m more of a tea drinker…herbal tea to be exact….but that’s another topic.

I practice and teach yoga, meditate, do self Ayurveda abhyanga massage, in other words I take care of myself. In fact, it was thanks to the self massage that I discovered this lump which my doctor could not feel. We’ve monitored it for months and did what was necessary. Followed the guidelines and protocols. Follow up in six months, check. Sub out class for biopsy, check. Breath in breath out, check. Done.

Winter Solstice 2018, darkest day of the year….no kidding. I got “the call” from my doctor just before jumping on the plane to visit my relatives in Asia. 14 plus hours of sleepless economy class time to contemplate. Perfect upright position for meditation since leaning the chair back can break the knees of the person behind me. I chant in my head “Amaram hum Madhuram hum”; “Pure, Free, Immortal”; noticing my attachment to my wonderful husband holding my hand on my right, and my amazing boys glued to the screens on the left. Thoughts, tears, peace. It all surfaced at once and sporadically. Unexplainable as I fall into the dream world to the sound of the engine…but not for long. The unknown is what we fear, but the presence is actually silence. That awareness and remembrance calms me. I am fine. More than fine, I am divine and ready for whatever arises…We continue to fly towards the light, I’m transforming out of the dark into a bright unknown and I am ready.

Thank you for reading, I am stepping up to listen to my Higher Self and will take more time off for this purpose. Thank you for being patient and I expect to see you fully on the mat by April. Meanwhile, I love teaching so will continue to offer my classes at my home studio on Mondays and Tuesdays. (These are currently full, but do check in) I would like to express my deepest gratitude for your commitment to yourself by showing up for Your Highest on and off the mat.

Namaste,

Carine

“You are not ignorant because of illusion. The illusion is that you are ignorant”

Swami Shyam

Gentle Core Functional Yoga (GCF)

Mondays 7:00pm-8:15pm $108/6 sessions or $25/drop ins space permitting.
January 14th, 21st, 28th
February 4th, 11th, 25th
Please contact me for registration and sliding scale rates if unable to attend all classes. (No class on Family Day Feb 18th) Classes may be moved or postponed due to surgery date.

Living Yin Yoga

Tuesdays 5:45pm-7:00pm $90/6sessions or $20/drop ins space permitting.
January 22nd, 29th
February 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th
Please contact me for registration and sliding scale rates if unable to attend all classes. Classes may be moved or postponed due to surgery date.

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Grateful for your support, Living Yoga is 2 Years old! It feels like a birthday celebration when we unwrap the kosha layers physically, mentally, through our breaths, discussions, and our bliss bodies. Thank you for coming along for the ride of our lives! To celebrate, I have 2 special guests that I’m happy to support by sharing this space. Heidi Hirdaya is here for one last urban meditation retreat before she goes back to India, mark the date: January 20th. Fleur will lead us in activation sound bath meditation January 25th. Check details below.

On a more personal note, I have surgery planned this month and will be taking it easy in January. If you plan on registering for GCF or Yin, please note that I may have to cancel depending on how I feel. I really want to keep offering the two classes as I love teaching 🙂 I have cleared all classes at YYOGA for January, and I’ll see you in the Spring schedule at RAC.